


Book club's origins

by slyvir



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Alec Lightwood Birthday Surprise, Alec Lightwood Deserves Nice Things, Lightwoods family feels, M/M, Malec Discord Server, no beta we die like men, sometimes nice things take the form of making time for yourself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:55:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26428978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slyvir/pseuds/slyvir
Summary: Book club started out long before it becameBook club.A glimpse through time on Alec's and all the Lightwood siblings connection to the Book club...
Relationships: Alec Lightwood & Isabelle Lightwood & Jace Wayland, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 4
Kudos: 44





	Book club's origins

  
Once upon a time, when Jace had not yet joined the Lightwood siblings at the New York Institute institute, little Alec Lightwood used to entertain his little sister Izzy with reading books about folklore and legends.

Those afternoon and nights moment were sold to the adults as strategy and history training, because of course they were good little shadowhunters getting ready for their future. And since most of those moment involved the use of books, after reading that kids gets together in clubs, this time set aside for relax and escape from the hardship of shadowhunter’s life got named book club.

During the years the meaning behind the name never really changed… Even if the activities it covered did. When Jace arrived at the institute and was included into the tradition Alec and Izzy discovered surprised that their new brother was an additional sources or even more legends and stories. And best of all they had the chance to keep imaging all of those stories becoming real… 

Once the first few months passed the trend of preferences became clearer; Izzy used to be the one pushing for comedies and plays, of course dragging her two brothers into acting them out with and for her. 

Alec the romantic nerd that he was ended up with sonnets and poems, whether they be about epic battles, war histories or even ones about love it mattered not. Alec loving the chance to escape while still walking within structured formats, set of rules that existed outside any kind of external influences. Rules that would not be applied discriminatingly depending on sex, age or name; unlike any other set of standards his parents kept measuring and held him to…

Jace instead was the one very much interested into finding more and more stories. Always new, never stopping, never desiring to hear something more than once. Always searching for more proof to disprove what his father repeated to love is to destroy. Because he would be damned if he was going to destroy Izzy and Alec. He was not going to let his past destroy his present and his future, and while he preened under Maryse and Robert’s praises and attentions, and he was terribly grateful the Lightwoods decided to take care of him. Jace’s loyalty was for Alec, the brother he intended to claim as his for the rest of his life. It might have have been a plan few years in the making, that however had taken Jace an embarrassingly short amount of time to be decided. He wanted to forever keep part of that bright soul in him. 

Alec was th best thing in his life, no matter what all the adult said, Jace knew the only reason why that gentle boy had not the same results as him was the fact that Alec simply didn’t had the same amount of training prioritising the same things.   
Jace knew he had been trained to follow orders, Alec on the other hand trained himself to be the one to give them when every else failed. Alec was the rock anyone could hold on to, the one person to turn to when things needed to be done. The only one who never disappointed and always delivered. If it wasn’t on his first attempt he would keep trying until the impossible became reality.  
Those are the reasons why Jace decided that he would convince Alec to become his parabatai. Convince him that they could be a great team, and sure it did take some years of training but Jace managed to make Alec admit they were the best team.

The more stories where shared and read the more curious all three of the Lightwood siblings got. When they finally reached the end of all the known Nephilim legends, they started venturing into mundane stories, getting their little minds widening and opening to thoughts and ideas that would have never crossed other traditionally raised shadowhunters... After all the fact that Robert and Maryse left their raising into their eldest son’s hands meant more leeway and permissions than anyone else ever had. 

Max was the perfect example, he was young enough to have reaped the full benefits of being raised by a nine years older Alec. So it was no surprise when little Max grew up to be like no other shadowhunter kid. Sharp mind and cocky attitude with enough charm to let him dodge punishment, and unconditional love for his siblings Izzy and Jace. And while Max knew Alec was biologically his brother, no one would ever be able to convince him that Alec had been the only constant authoritative and parental figure who gave a damn about Max as a person. Dad was not a word any of them, with maybe Izzy being the only exception, could ever utter without sorrow. And Max loved Alec too much to bring him sorrow. While big brother was not enough to encompass all Alec was for him, Max decided to let his action speak more than titles could. Only Alec’s opinion was sought and taken to heart. Only Alec disappointment was the one he could not scroll off as unimportant. Only Alec help was the one he could always count on.

  
The tricky thing with open minds and open hearts, is that any attempt to indoctrinate them is destined to fail… Which was why no matter how many times or in how many different ways their instructors and trainers tried to fed to them the Nephilim supremacy propaganda, in the end their shadowhunter training was sticking in, but the absurd ideas of older generation didn’t.

This new rebellious phase grew from childhood fantasies and games. It took the form of thoughts and actions that would be considered not just rebellious by their parents or more older shadowhunters. During their teenager years each of the three oldest siblings, as they entered through puberty, allowed their thoughts to spread into uncharted territory. They would have never thought growing up that any of them would ever touch such thoughts with a 10 foot poles... And yet here they were…

  
Izzy found downworlders more and more interesting, their culture of curse was made of all the things from dreams and stories, exotic and completely attractive. Empowering her to push beyond any limit. The lack of stiff traditions was the perfect way to discover how she could spread her wings and grow more confident through her lovers’ desire.

Jace evolved from dreaming of relaxing and losing himself from inside stories, to try to lose himself and find truths inside a new person each time. Be it through body or mind exploration.

Every time both Izzy and Jace were out searching and chasing that moment of escapism in the warm embrace of other people, Alec found himself hiding behind his walls, taking comfort from memories of days gone and retelling all the stories to his little brother Max, offering at least to him a better childhood than any of them ever had.

Alec knew he couldn't have the same luxury his siblings found in the arms of others. The risk of gossip reaching their parents’ ears or any other shadowhunter under his command was too high and the consequences too dangerous.

So he decided to do what any other older brother would chose to do. He fortified himself and build up his position, shielding his siblings from any possible consequences, taking up blame that was not really his, even if he was clearly the reason why any of them even had those thoughts in the first place.

Had his sibling been raised with the cold indifference and neglect he grew up with, he was pretty sure that they would not be the same as they became. Seeing the light shining in Izzy’s eyes, or Jace cocky attitude never wavering made this knowledge being just enough to shoulder the consequences and the good natured teasing he constantly received by his siblings.

The funniest part was that out of the three of them Jace was the only one who kept using the name. Book club became during the years the code words for many different things, each and every one rooted in the need to escape their reality. 

Sneaking out to dance the night away? Book club.

Being interrogated by Alec in the middle of the night on where he went after returning to the institute completely hammered and barely conscious enough to reach his bed? Book club.

Disappearing for hours after training unknowingly sending through their bond some happier sensations after some alone time? Book club.

Finding warmth in the arms of another... or in their beds…? Book club.

  
Then Hurricane Clary arrived in the Lightwood siblings’ life, and Alec could see all the trouble she was going to be, none of them were prepared for it or the consequences that would follow...  
What Alec also wasn't prepare for was his life crossing Magnus Bane's path.

  
As the story unfold itself it was basically inevitable that book club would come up at some point. The only thing Alec could hope for, was to praying that when inevitably it would show up, maybe they could hopefully avoid being bite in the ass by it...

Surprisingly of all the new people in their life the first one to hear about book club was Simon Lewis, the mundane, turned vampire, turned daylighter... Considering the clueless man in question Alec couldn’t really find in himself to fault the annoying chatterbox to express the surprise about finding Jace supposed love of literature or the utterance in complete Lewis style of the million dollar question “you read?”

When his parabatai got around to actually tell all this to Alec, he managed to keep a straight face, probably the one instance in his life he kept something about himself straight. Only to go and sniggering about it privately with Magnus. Alec thought it was the correct thing to do. After all Magnus suffered through, while he kindly let Jace crash at the loft Alec truly believed his boyfriend needed some ammo in the constant bickering the two kept engaging into.

Just a tiny bit little bit of retribution for all the time book club was used against him. Or all the time it was suggestively suggested he should take a leaf from either Izzy or Jace’s own books and enjoy book clubs activities himself…

  
When also Clary got a mention of book club in the middle of the ops centre and Alec had a front row seat for the inevitable "you...read?" question. The incredulity being projected so clearly in those two words that all Alec could do to prevent the laughter to escape was pressing his lips so tightly they formed a very thin line. 

When his brother dared to wonder aloud why everyone found it so hard to believe he read all bets were off the table. Izzy wasn't even trying to hide her grin at the exchange. The only option Alec had, was to diffuse the situation and try to divert the attention while carefully avoiding to answer his parabatai.   
He went for the fastest way out, Alec just patted his brother’s shoulder and with the smoothest _Look. Focus_ he was able to get everyone attention and divert it to the real problem at hand...

When Robert came and dropped yet another bomb into Alec’s lap after all the terrors they had been going through Alec reached the end of his rope. So he did the only thing that made sense to him, and wasn’t Magnus the one who told him not so long ago that there would always be something going on, and that it was up to Alec himself making the time for the things he cared about.

With that thought in mind Alec closed everything important under key and left his office to find Underhill and leaving to his second in command a note for his sibling should they search for him.

It was about an hour later that in the halls of the Institute resound a sound rarely heard in recent years… Jace’s laughter attracted Izzy like flowers attracted bees. When she reached one of her brother an inquisitive raised eyebrow was all it took for the still laughing Jace to pass over the little piece of paper with two words neatly written on it. 

Apparently after years of teasing, having Magnus Bane in his life was what it took for Alec to update the meaning of Book club to match that of his siblings…

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to bet you were not expecting this twist on book club...
> 
> Feel free to yeet and yell at me in the comments, or on discord
> 
> to those not yet aware of it the [Malec Discord Server](https://discord.gg/5nBgEp8) is a lovely place where to get inspiration, filled with so many beautiful and supportive people.


End file.
